Web Exclusive: Exercise to Go

Forget about joining an expensive health club or hiring a personal trainer to lose weight and get in shape. An exercise plan and an emotional support system will do the trick, says Paul VanWiechen, Director of Exercise Physiology at Cleveland Clinic Canada.

Mr. VanWiechen studied 135 adults who used Cleveland Clinic Canada’s 12-week weight-loss management program, which includes consultations with a physician, psychologist, dietitian, exercise physiologist and a case manager. He found that people who talked weekly with their case managers exercised at least 150 minutes per week—the program’s goal. Mr. VanWiechen presented the findings at the November 2010 Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology Conference in Toronto.

“We know that patients who come to our facility to exercise will show improvement. This study validates another option: With appropriate counseling, detailed planning and regular follow-up, patients will show improvement even if they never come in and exercise in front of us,” Mr. VanWiechen says.

He cites the case of a 36-year-old woman who was ashamed of her 5-foot, 190-pound body. She knew she needed to exercise, but going to a gym meant working out in public. She bought a set of barbells, but they just collected dust in her basement.

The solution: Mr. VanWiechen taught her how to use those weights as part of an exercise plan and arranged a supportive, weekly 15-minute phone chat with her case manager. After 12 weeks, she lost 15 pounds. Now, she rides bikes with her kids and jogs in the park. “She’s not self-conscious about exercising in public anymore,” he says, adding that she has dropped another 55 pounds on her own since leaving the program six months ago.